Dawn of a Red Moon
by Pyro Flare
Summary: Sequel to The Necromancer. Three years have passed, and Akatsuki's inactivity has caused tensions to rise in the ninja world. As Akatsuki begins to make their move, the tensions between the villages grow even tighter. Rating may go up. Chapter 4 added.
1. Chapter 1: Reports

_(Author's Note: __Welcome to the Sequel of The Necromancer/The Necromancer Revisited (yes, I revised it, and you should read the revision. Certain extra scenes might be mentioned here, and they will make less sense if you did not read the revision). This will incorporate lots of genres at points, but it is primarily a normal action/adventure story. If I didn't cover some canon things in The Necromancer, they might show up here. And the zombies won't be a main part here, sorry zombie fans. Well, enjoy._

_**Please read and review**. Your critique helps me improve my writing or/and makes me feel awesome)_

* * *

Dawn of a Red Moon, Chapter 1:

Itachi entered his room in the Akatsuki base. It was in the dead of night, and he had returned from receiving a report from one of his genjutsued agents in Konoha. He placed the report amongst other reports from a few days ago on a desk in the room. He lit a candle and set it on the desk. The candle illuminated a picture of his family when he was a youth along with another picture of an Uchiha woman, both of the pictures on the desk as well.

Itachi organized the reports as he carefully removed them from their folders. Kisame was audibly snoring, and Itachi didn't want to disturb his sleep. He spread the papers out on his desk so he could read them all without moving the papers. His mind briefly wandered to the events that happened in Konoha three years ago. The apocalypse caused by the two rogue Akatsuki members was thwarted, and everyone slain during the events was restored with the souls and energy in Madara Uchiha's amulet, but at the cost of the brave child's life.

Itachi had always been curious and caring about the village's welfare, and even Akatsuki's inactivity wasn't an exception. He just hated his clan, and that hate is what led him to his actions that expelled him from the village. He still cared for Konoha, and, to be honest, he found it interesting to see how the talented shinobi in the village were growing. He hadn't ordered the citizens he had genjutsued to collect information like that for a few years, and he eagerly prepared to read over the reports. It also took him a while, but he managed to find a wandering man who had knowledge of Sasuke and his team. Ever since their encounter three years ago, he was especially eager to see how his little brother had progressed.

He began to read the reports, starting from the paper he placed on the top left corner of his desk. The first ten or so pages contained reports on various chunin and jonin that weren't of much interest to Itachi. What he was searching for in the reports were how the talented rookie ninja who had constantly meddled in Akatsuki's affairs had developed over three years; along with a few powerful jonin of the village. He finally found the first mention of one such team.

_There are a few ninja teams full of incredible promise. Might Guy's team is one example. All three of his students are now jonin, and his practical son Rock Lee has become his sensei's equal in skill, but he is faster, yet weaker, than his sensei. Tenten is most likely the village's best user of ninja tools. She is able to summon them near-instantaneously and throw them with incredible accuracy. Neji Hyuga has actually managed to defeat his father in a duel, making him stronger than the head of the Hyuga clan! Neji has even created new rotation techniques unheard of in Hyuga history._

Itachi briefly recalled Kisame's explanation of his clone fighting this very team three years ago. They had difficulty taking on a clone with only thirty percent of Kisame's total chakra (which was still a huge amount) and diminished physical capabilities, but there was no doubt that the four could easily take down a clone of Kisame at their levels. And to think that a member of the branch family could surpass the _leader_ of the Hyugas. Itachi continued to read.

_Another talented shinobi team is Team 10, led by Yamato, the jonin with the genetic abilities of Hashirama. Due to the death of Shikamaru the hero, they have been lacking a member. Sai of Team 7 is a member there and in Team 7 as well due to shortages. The other two students, Choji Akimichi and Ino Yamanaka, are still chunin. Choji has learned to control more of his body manipulation techniques, and Ino has also learned new strategies of using her mind techniques. Reiko Uchiha has taught Ino how to use some of her traps as well._

Itachi was rather unimpressed at this team's development, but he wasn't surprised by the results. He was awaiting the appearance of Team 7 in the reports... Sasuke's team was full of talented young shinobi; all three of them trained by one of the sannin themselves.

_Team 8 is now led by new jonin Anko Mitarashi due to its past sensei, Kurenai Yuhi, being busy with parenting. Two of the students are now jonin, the other a chunin. Hinata Hyuga is still a chunin, but a very powerful one. She failed her first attempt at the jonin tests and has been training intently with Neji Hyuga and Naruto Uzumaki. During this training, it is said that Naruto suggested a new way for her to use Juken. Hinata now uses a completely unique form of Juken that is fluid, and she can slightly extend her chakra to strike chakra points from a distance, but at the cost of not being able to use rotations. Shino Aburame can now summon the Aburame clan summon: the great insect Shiozo. He has also learned how to control other insects outside the Aburame norm, but these insects cannot leech chakra or burrow into his skin. Kiba Inuzuka has also learned to summon the Inuzuka clan summon: the mighty wolf Fenrir. His bound with his familiar Akamaru has strengthened, and they have both learned swordplay from Kenokami._

This team seemed threatening to Akatsuki's efforts as well. There was not just one, but _two_ powerful Hyuga enemies- each with their own powerful fighting styles. Itachi skimmed through some other paragraphs before he reached the end of the reports on Konoha. He finally found Team 7's entry, and he read with great interest.

_One of the most famous ninja teams of the modern day is no doubt Team 7. Six years ago prime student Sasuke Uchiha left the village to seek more power, one of the first cases of leaf ninja abandoning the village in a long time. His replacement is Sai, who also functions as a Team 10 member at times. Sai is more skilled at his unique drawing jutsus, and he is a jonin now, along with his other teammates. The team's sensei, the famous copy ninja Kakashi Hatake, is even more powerful and has learned new techniques with his sharingan._

Itachi's hands tightened as he read that sentence, the paper crumpling under the force of his grip. The fact that a non-Uchiha had managed to obtain Mangekyo infuriated him, but now he had most likely learned all three Mangekyo skills, too! Itachi maintained his cool and continued to read.

_Sakura Haruno has greatly improved under her training with the Hokage. Her chakra control is more advanced and she is stronger as well. She has learned even more healing techniques from Tsunade, and she proudly wears the same seal upon her forehead that Tsunade has. She has also learned touch-based genjutsu from the jonin Kurenai. What is so remarkable is that due to her relations with the late Chiyo of Sunagakure, one of their ninja, Kankuro, has taught her in the ways of puppetry, making her the first ninja outside of Sunagakure to learn the art. No doubt this is a sign of a lasting bond between the Leaf and the Sand._

Itachi was rather impressed that this girl had progressed as far as she did. This made him briefly wonder how far Sasuke and Naruto had improved, but he stopped wondering, for he had the answers before him. He read the last few sentences on the Konoha ninja report.

_Naruto Uzumaki has become somewhat of a local sensation in the village, finally being viewed as a respectable ninja and not a container of the king of monsters. With training from Iruka Umino, he has learned more clone techniques. Yamato has taught him more wind jutsu, and Kakashi helped Naruto develop some more rasengan techniques. He departed a few months ago to train with Jiraiya, who was going to help him control the Kyuubi better, along with a few "secret arts." He is expected to return within a week or two._

Itachi straightened and smoothed the page as he stacked all of the papers detailing the ninja in the village. He wasn't so sure that Pain had made the correct decision in waiting to bring back Madara. The ritual was a long and grueling process for him, and Konoha was now a much greater threat than before... he shrugged off the thoughts and placed the stack aside.

He now had two papers before him: one containing information on Sasuke, the other containing information on international affairs. He trembled slightly as he grasped the paper containing info on his little brother. The handwriting was rather rough, and the message was very brief.

_Sasuke still searches for his brother. The team he travels with has lost the blue haired one with the large sword. He left for some reason, most likely inner strife. Sasuke has been vigorously training with himself and the tall orange haired one in his team in order to become powerful enough to kill his brother. I've witnessed such a battle... many fire and lightning jutsus I've never seen before were used by him, and the orange haired one could take them... I don't want to antagonize that group..._

Itachi smirked at the news of his baby brother's training. Itachi had been busy contributing to Pain's resurrection jutsu over the past three years... he didn't have much free time to hone his abilities. He was looking forward to fighting Sasuke once more to see how he had improved. He threw away that paper as he looked over the remaining paper.

_Konohagakure is becoming more militaristic in paranoia of a possible attack by enemy organization Akatsuki. Suspicions have risen in the nefarious group's mysterious three-year idleness, and in response, Konoha has been developing several new weapon ideas. This has made other nations wary of Konoha and it has increased tensions overall._

_Sunagakure is enjoying its long-lasting alliance with Konoha, said alliance enforced by teaching a Leaf kunoichi the Sand-specific arts of puppetry. The Kazekage, Gaara, is gradually becoming worse at solving the village's problems, but he has an advisor: his new sensei Bankou, a famous ninja of the Sand that left the village a decade ago and made his return a few years back._

_Kirigakure in particular is wary of Konoha's research, and they are organizing their men for a possible attack upon them by Konoha due to the Mist's frequent battles with the village in the past. Inner war is still tearing the nation apart, and the Mizukage has recently fallen ill and his old age is hindering him. This has furthered the village's problems, as factions are now fighting each other in attempts to assassinate the Mizukage and seize control of the village._

_Iwagakure has recently accepted a proposition from the Mist, and the two nations are now in a loose alliance with each other. The alliance will without a doubt become a full one if Konoha becomes too threatening to the two nations. The Rock has also held a celebration over the return of their two most famous brothers: Roshi and Shiro._

_Kumogakure is put into a tough situation with these current alliances with the Five Great Shinobi Nations. The Cloud feels pressured by the current alliances, and it feels as if it will be drug into the cold war. They are taking as many precautions as necessary to remain solitary in this conflict._

_The five other minor ninja nations are remaining neutral in this current situation, but the Rain and the Sound are, of course, still isolated and their motives are unknown._

Itachi finished reading the papers. He nicely stacked them on his desk as he extinguished the candle. He would tell Pain of the reports' contents in the morning, but now it was time for sleep...


	2. Chapter 2: Returning Home

Dawn of a Red Moon, Chapter 2:

Sakura sighed as she sat on the bench, her hands on her chin and her chin resting on her knees. She was not alone: Hinata a few others were here at the Gates of Konoha to await Naruto's return after his three month training session with Jiraiya. A gentle breeze mixed with the lazy afternoon really made the time pass incredibly slowly. Her eyes wandered around the area, taking in how the place has changed over the years and the events that happened here...

At these very gates, Sasuke rejected her twice. The first time, she had been a naive and clueless little girl... she deserved to be knocked out there. She lightly smiled as she thought of herself from six years ago and how foolish that girl was. She then thought of her most recent and currently last encounter with Sasuke here... where he had shattered any hopes she had left of being with him. Sakura lightly bit her lip and she felt her fingernails dig into her cheeks. She sighed and released her stress... she'd make Sasuke pay for treating a woman like that. She then closed her eyes...

Soulless white eyes, grabbing hands, moans, screams of pain, chewing, she herself approaching Naruto as one of them...

She yelped lightly and shook her head. As she fought those repressed memories back. She felt Hinata's touch as the Hyuga girl patted her on the back soothingly.

"It's okay, Sakura... we all suffered on those three days... every one of us carries a burden. You are not alone," Hinata said quietly. Sakura nodded as she straightened herself and sat normally.

"Yeah, you're right..." she muttered. She hated to think of those three horrible days from three years ago. They were so long ago... memories that should have been buried... but they kept coming back to haunt her. _I guess it's normal for something so catastrophic to the mind to linger on for so long... but still..._ Sakura thought.

"Hey, Naruto's back!" they heard Kiba call out. Sakura and Hinata suddenly shot up from the bench, their eyes wide and bright, as they ran over to the village entrance. On the path they saw a familiar shock of yellow hair wearing an orange and black outfit reminiscent of the one he wore three years ago, but it had a different design.

Naruto nonchalantly walked up to the gates, his hand behind his head. As he got close enough, he dropped his arms save one, which was open.

"Hey," he said with a small smile and an odd lack of his usual enthusiasm.

"Naruto!" Hinata cried out as she ran over and threw her arms around him before peppering him with kisses. Naruto laughed as he hugged her back. They soon let go, and everyone else greeted him.

"Your hair's grown!" Hinata remarked as she saw that Naruto's hair had lengthened down to his neck.

"Oh, yeah, there weren't any scissors up where Jiraiya and I trained," said Naruto, "but I like it's new length." Hinata nodded in approval. Naruto looked out at the people that had waited to greet him.

"Heh, I missed you guys, too," he said with a big grin. Just looking at them all made him realize how much they had changed over the years.

Hinata... she used to be a shy and meek girl who could barely even talk to him. Now she was a strong and confidant girl that seemed to be locked into a growing pattern of youthful beauty, as she looked relatively the same ever since three years ago. Kiba and Akamaru were still the same hot-tempered guys they always used to be. Kiba actually started to grow his hair out, and Akamaru is slightly bigger, too. Shino was... well, he's always been Shino. And he's always been wearing some sort of Aburame coat, ever since they first met. Anko... it was kind of odd seeing her wear an official jonin flak jacket, but she deserved it.

Yamato and Guy's team couldn't make it yet, but Naruto knew he would encounter the two teams later. He then looked at Kakashi, who... Kakashi always looked the same. He then laid eyes on Sakura, and was instantly taken aback. Sakura looked around her with a look of confusion.

"Huh? What is it?" she asked.

"There's something different about you..." Naruto said. Sakura would then feel Naruto's eyes crawl all over her as he tried to identify the difference.

_Hmm... it's not her outfit or her hair... they've pretty much stayed similar,_ Naruto thought as he continued to look, _A-ha! It's her forehead! She has that diamond-shaped seal thingamajig Tsunade had! Wait, no, she's had that recently... damn, why does it have to be so small and unnoticeable? Wait a minute... huh!?_

Naruto squinted his eyes as he pointed at Sakura's chest, "You have boobs now. Explain," he said. Sakura blushed as her eyes drifted away from Naruto. Naruto humorously scowled as he continued, "You're using Granny Tsunade's body changing jutsu, aren't you?"

"W-Well at least I'm not making them ginormous like her's!" Sakura exclaimed in a poor attempt to defend her refined chest. Everyone laughed at the situation. Hinata smiled as she walked up to Naruto and hugged him from behind, placing her head on his shoulder.

"It's good to have you back," she said sweetly.

"The same," Naruto replied as he turned his head and gave Hinata a peck on her lips, making her blush slightly. Sakura smiled at the two as she thought of how good of a couple they were.

"NARUTO, WELCOME BACK!" Guy triumphantly yelled as he walked up to Naruto not-so-triumphantly. Naruto had to suppress laughter at how similar Guy and Lee looked. Neji and Tenten also looked like they usually did, but they were holding hands. Ah, the nature of youth. Greetings were had, and then more greetings were needed as Yamato's team suddenly showed up. Like the other older people, Yamato had not changed one bit. It puzzled Naruto how the younger ninja like him kept changing while the older ninja remained static. Sai was one of the few younger ninja who looked the same. Ino had her hair longer and Choji wasn't wearing his goofy Akimichi clothing. And he was thinner. And... _gwuh?_

Ino and Choji were puzzled by Naruto's awkward stare and gaping mouth and pointing finger. Then they realized Naruto wasn't there when it happened and would most likely be confounded at the fact they were holding hands.

"Oh yeah, Choji and I are dating," Ino said nonchalantly, causing Naruto to become even more bewildered. Everyone began laughing at Naruto's reaction.

"S-stop laughing at me!" Naruto said, flustered. Iruka then ran up, waving at everyone and apologizing for being late. More greetings happened before Iruka suggested they all eat at Ichiraku.

"O-of course!" Naruto exclaimed, "Man, oh man, have I missed that place!"

Much fun was had. Of course, it wouldn't last for long. Nothing ever does.

* * *

Itachi walked into the room and took a seat at the circular table; setting down the reports he was carrying. The room was dimly lit, with only a single torch in a corner for light. Itachi thought it was rather pretentious, but it certainly did make the meetings with the Akatsuki elites more interesting. Pain was, of course, looking out a rather large window that held a view of a starry sky and the vast reaches of the industrial Amegakure below. Normally, the moon's light would also add to the glow of the torch, but it was a new moon tonight. Nothing was said or heard besides the crackling of the flames. Konan emerged from the wall, the familiar "paper ripple" of the wall fading as she stepped completely out of it and took a seat. Zetsu rose from the ground and nonchalantly took a seat. Then there was more silence.

"_Ergh... what the hell is taking him so long?_" Zetsu's other half spoke, abruptly ruining the quiet atmosphere. Itachi rolled his eyes as he thought of how mysterious Zetsu used to be a few years ago. For some reason he opened up during the process of resurrecting Madara, and it was now quite clear that his other voice was, in fact, the large plant that shared a body with him.

"Calm down, I had to dismiss Niomi," Zhale said as he entered the room and took a seat, "It wouldn't be good if she overheard everything, now would it?"

"Nope, Pain wouldn't like that," said Zetsu. Pain then left the room without a word.

"...What's his problem?" Zhale asked with a small scowl as he pushed his glasses back up to his face.

"I do believe God... I mean, Pain, has left to fetch something before the meeting began," Konan said.

"Couldn't he have fetched it _before_ we came in here? I was reading a very interesting book before I was called here," Zhale said.

"Quiet," Itachi said with a scornful stare, "and stop acting like a child." Of all of the Akatsuki members, Itachi disliked Zhale. He was just as unpleasant, if not more, than Hidan.

"Don't you command me like you're the leader, Itachi," Zhale said indignantly, "Remember that I could easily crush you with my mind alone."

"I do agree with what Itachi has said, though," Pain said as he returned in the room, "and Itachi is much stronger than you think, Zhale." Pain walked up to the table and set a clear jar on the middle of the tabletop. Within the jar was a mystical glowing orb floating about, illuminating the room further with a red tint.

"The fruits of our efforts have succeeded in bringing Madara's soul back from the afterlife," Pain said, "no longer must we remain inactive in our hunt for the bijuu, for we have a suitable commander and tactician."

"Ridiculous! _You're_ letting someone else lead?" Zhale asked Pain with disgust.

"Of course. We both have immense power, he has people skills, and I have leading skills. We compliment each other," Madara's soul spoke, shocking everyone except Pain, "and Pain is just as much of a leader as I am. Consider us two sides of the same coin."

"I apologize..." Zhale grumbled as he situated himself.

"It does not matter; I have dealt with stubborn people in the past, but that would be a tangent. I must thank you all for devoting so much time and chakra to bring me back, but it will be well worth your efforts," said Madara, "the only last obstacle in my way of becoming myself again is the lack of a body. My original body is far too charred from that damned fox... so I require a new vessel. Preferably, an Uchiha."

Itachi suppressed a look of disgust as Madara said that. The orb of red light had no eyes, but Itachi could _feel_ it staring at him, smirking at him. He became very concerned. Would he be forced to become Madara's vessel? He then noticed that Pain was glancing towards him, and he realized that his disgust was seeping out onto his face. Itachi quickly straightened his face and remained looking impassive, although a keen eye could see the worry hidden underneath the calm exterior.

"Tobi should be a suitable vessel," Pain said. The other four elites were shocked at this revelation, especially Itachi. Tobi, an Uchiha!? "I see you are all surprised," Pain continued, "but Madara saved Tobi from the brink of death before implanting a message in his head to make him join Akatsuki once the time was right. Tobi does not recall his past, for he has amnesia."

"Hmm... Tobi's okay... but I think I would prefer Itachi," Madara said.

"Itachi," said Pain, who quickly retorted as if he were expecting Madara to say that, "is a valuable asset to our organization. He cannot simply be sacrificed to bring you back..."

"Very well," Madara said with a slight hint of defeat in his voice. He then changed subjects. "Where is Tobi, anyway?"

"He is with Deidara. They are both currently scouting out and mapping the Land of Fire for us. They should be back in a few days," said Konan.

"...A few days never seemed so long..." Madara grumbled.

"Speaking of the Land of Fire reminds me of something," Pain said as he looked at Itachi, "the reports."

"Of course," Itachi said as he took a piece of paper off of the stack before handing the rest to Pain, "this paper holds important information on the current world affairs. I've also done a bit of research myself... waiting three years was a risky decision."

"How so?" Zetsu asked.

"Konohagakure has become highly paranoid during our inactivity. They're building various weapons in the possibility of an imminent attack by us. Also, those rookie ninja that have ended up being the undoing of a few of our members... most of them are now powerful jonin," Itachi explained.

"Kakuzu, Hidan, and Sasori were weak," Konan said, "The former two were far too overconfident and the latter played around too much."

"Hmm... well, the other great nations don't really know why Konoha is building these weapons. This, of course, is causing strains in peace."

"_Perfect for exploitation,_" Zetsu's plant side chimed in.

"I wouldn't be too hasty. Sunagakure, of course, trusts Konoha. And Konoha is paranoid enough to expect us intervening with the other villages," Pain said.

"Yes, Sunagakure trusts Konoha, as they are still allies. The current Kazekage used to be faltered before one of the village's famed ninja returned to assist the Kazekage. Kumogakure is neutral in these emerging conflicts, but they feel pressured that they will be dragged into the alliance of the Leaf and the Sand or the Mist and the Rock," Itachi continued.

"Why exactly did you choose to mention that now, if it is the closing?" Zhale asked, eyeing Itachi suspiciously.

"Because I did some research and discovered some extra information on Kirigakure. And Iwagakure... well, you'll see. Kirigakure's reports state that they are organizing their men in the event of a possible attack by Konoha. They also say that the inner conflict in the nation has intensified with the Mizukage's recent illness. I discovered that just a few days after I received these reports that Taro Terumi is no longer the Mizukage. His daughter has become Mizukage, and her new policies have satisfied the would-be rebels," Itachi said.

"That is unfortunate indeed..." Madara sighed, "I fed Taro all of my ideals so that I could essentially rule that village without ruling it. Such a betrayal has wounded me greatly."

"And what of the Rock?" Konan asked.

Itachi cleared his throat and continued, "They have received a proposition to ally with the Mist. They are considering it, and they will no doubt do so if Konoha makes any moves against them. And... they have recently celebrated the return of their two legendary brothers: Shiro... and Roshi."

"Roshi!?" Pain roared in anger as he turned around to face Itachi. His normal blue-purple Rinnegan was now a blazing red, showing the anger he felt, "How is that possible? Kisame defeated him and we sealed his tailed beast!"

"Perhaps it is a misunderstanding?" Konan asked.

"I doubt someone would misunderstand something as famous as the Legendary Rock Brothers," Zetsu said, "Have you checked the King of Hell statue, Pain?"

"I'm on it," Pain said as he closed his eyes. After a few moments, he said, "I _knew_ something was irregular about the Four-Tails. It was a fake. We fell for whatever decoy they set up..."

"A... fake bijuu?" Zhale asked, "Is that even possible?"

"Considering that the tailed beasts are massive clumps of chakra..." Zetsu said grimly, "_Whoa, are you serious?_"

"Yes... it is a definite possibility that there are now artificial jinchuuriki serving their villages," said Itachi.

"Well, that's even better," Madara said, "more bijuu to extract energy from. I'm sure the King of Hell can be modified for more storage?"

"Considering that they are not true bijuu, they can all definitely fit within the statue," Pain said as he opened his eyes, "I have terminated the false bijuu. It was a prototype and held no useful energy, just energy similar to a bijuu to fool us. I am not pleased by this... not at all. I want to know exactly how many artificial bijuu there are out there!"

"I'm on it..." Zetsu sighed, "_Making us do everything..._"

"No, Zetsu will not be enough. I want everybody scouring the world for information on these artificial bijuu. Return here by the end of the month with your findings. Am I understood?" Pain ordered.

"Yes, sir!" the other Akatsuki members said.

"Very well. You are all dismissed," said Pain. The other four left, leaving Madara and Pain alone.

"...That certainly explains what I've been feeling. There are nine of these artificial bijuu, but I do not know where," Madara said.

"How exactly do you know this?" Pain growled.

"An aftereffect of controlling a bijuu. Just trust me," said Madara.


	3. Chapter 3: Clipped Wings

(A/N: Yeah, eighteen bijuu. I really don't have an excuse for that; I just wanted to use the canon bijuu in some way. But hey, it's not as ridiculous as the Moon's Eye Plan and the whole predictableness of the manga, not to mention Kishi ripping me off. But enough of that, story time.)

* * *

Dawn of a Red Moon, Chapter 3:

The birds resting in the trees scattered in fear as a large shadow rushed over their homes. The shadow belonged to an abnormally large bird made of clay, and two members of Akatsuki were perched on the bird's back: the bomber Deidara and the masked Tobi. The bird flew slowly as Deidara used his eye scope to zoom in on the small clearings in the trees. He sketched out a rough layout of the area and sighed as he continued to mark the paper. Scouting and mapping was such tedious work. He'd rather blow something up. Tobi wasn't helping, either.

"C'mooooooooooon, Dei-Dei, look at what I drew! It's pretty, I swear!" Tobi insisted as he tried to show Deidara his sketchpad. Deidara simply grunted and shoved Tobi's hand away as he continued to draw the landscape. Tobi frowned under his mask, but soon said once more, "Pretty please with boom things on top? C'moooooooooooooooon!"

"Tobi, don't you realize that this task requires the utmost concentration, hmm?" Deidara snapped at the masked man. Tobi whimpered lightly, and Deidara rolled his eyes and sighed as he commanded the bird to stop moving for a bit, "Fine, show me your drawing, hmm..."

"Yaaaaay!" Tobi gleefully exclaimed, all signs of sorrow gone from his voice as he proudly showed Deidara his sketchpad. Deidara stared at the sketchpad with an annoyed look as he flipped through the pictures. They were all garbage! Tobi was a grown man, and all he could draw was pictures akin to a small child! Pictures that were merely scribbles resembling clouds, birds, and the sun... in crayon. He didn't bring any crayons. Deidara glanced up at Tobi's left hand and saw a pencil in it.

"Do you have any crayons, hmm?" Deidara asked Tobi. Tobi looked around and patted his clothing for a bit until he seemed to realize something. He then, instead of reaching into his robe and pulling out some crayons like Deidara expected, extended the fist that was clutching the pencil.

"That's... a pencil, yeah," Deidara mumbled as he tried not to think about how Tobi manages these things. He gave back Tobi's sketchpad and resumed mapping out the land, the bird traveling once more at a lofty pace. Deidara could hear frantic scribbling from Tobi, and it was quite annoying.

"Could you _please_ stop that, hmm?" Deidara growled as he grinded his pencil against the paper, making his maps inaccurate, which made him angrier.

"I _could_ stop, but I won't 'cuz I'm making a _brand new drawing!_" Tobi exclaimed as he wiggled his fingers for dramatic effect before resuming his drawing. Deidara soon sighed as Tobi began to pester him to look at the new drawing.

"This better be the last one, yeah, or else I'm throwing you off this bird myself!" Deidara threatened as he turned around, the bird stopping once more.

Deidara's mouth was agape. Tobi's drawing was a highly detailed and accurate map of the area directly below them! Deidara's right eye twitched as his mind tried to comprehend how Tobi pulled off such an amazing feat when his previous drawings were crap.

"Look! It's Scary Man and his friends!" Tobi exclaimed as he pointed down to the ground while putting away his sketchbook. Deidara sighed as Tobi switched subjects once more. _Scary Man could be at least seven hundred different people according to him, yeah..._ he thought. Nevertheless, Deidara zoomed in on the people Deidara mentioned. Deidara grinned as he indentified the Uchiha brat and his companions, but the blue haired kid was missing.

_I won't lose this time, yeah,_ Deidara thought as he molded a few clay spiders and tossed them down at the three. The spiders exploded, throwing dust up in the air.

"What are you doing?" Tobi asked.

"We're making a little detour, yeah," Deidara said as he made the clay bird land. The smoke cleared with a sudden dusk, revealing that the three had been unharmed by the blast.

"Karin, Jugo, head back to the hideout," Sasuke ordered. The two nodded as they departed. Sasuke stared intently at Deidara and Tobi as they hopped off the bird and walked towards Sasuke.

"Well, now, it's been quite some time, hasn't it, yeah?" Deidara asked as he smirked, "Three years. And how come we haven't seen each other, hmm?"

"I've been training so I can kill Itachi. How did you survive? I thought I killed you..." said Sasuke.

"'Thought' is the correct word, yeah. And how coincidental. I've also been training to kill Itachi, since the bastard forced me to join this organization, yeah. But... I might as well kill you first, you kill-stealer! Orochimaru was mine!" Deidara yelled as he threw several clay spiders at Sasuke, detonating them all. Deidara noticed a small blur leaving the smoke, and he turned around to see Tobi getting cut down by Sasuke. Deidara smirked, for he knew of Tobi's special power. Tobi slumped over as Sasuke chuckled.

"Come now, what threat are you if your friend can't put up a fight?" Sasuke asked as he turned to face Deidara. Tobi then stood up and poked Sasuke on the shoulder. Sasuke spun around and Tobi ducked to avoid the sword slash. He then reeled his arm back to prepare a powerful punch. His fist glowed, and he thrust it forward-- only for the attack to become a harmless little poke that made a squeaky noise. Sasuke sighed and walked towards Deidara.

"I have no time for jokers," he said coolly as he fired a few chidori needles at Deidara, who dodged them and retaliated with a few clay pellets, which simply hit the ground. Tobi hung his head in shame and sulked off to lean against a tree as the pellets burst into bright pillar-shaped explosives, masking Sasuke's view. When the light faded and Sasuke's eyes had recovered from the flash of light, he saw a few clay spiders heading straight towards him. His eyes widened as he activated his sharingan and quickly leaped out of the way as the spiders exploded. Sasuke noticed a bit of movement above him and saw that Deidara was in the air on one of his clay birds.

"For someone so boastful, you sure do run away a lot..." growled Sasuke as he formed a chidori in his hand and tossed it at Deidara. Deidara's eyes widened at this new technique as he swerved away from the ball of lightning. Sasuke smirked as he made a hand seal, causing the chidori to explode in a cloud of electricity. Deidara grit his teeth as the cloud of plasma washed over him and his bird, electrocuting him. Deidara panted as he reached into his clay pouch and quickly constructed a large dragon that rushed at Sasuke. Sasuke swiftly unsheathed his Kusanagi and cleaved the clay construct in twain, both halves detonating away from him. Deidara audibly laughed as a shower of smaller clay bombs flew at Sasuke, who leaped back and fired a wave of electricity that prematurely set the bombs off.

"Well, well, you've certainly improved, yeah," Deidara said, "You seem to actually be a challenge now."

"Funny you should say that. I seem to recall defeating you rather quickly," Sasuke replied.

"Just a lucky shot. I'm not going to-" Deidara began, but was silenced as the tip of a sword emerged just below his neck. Deidara coughed up blood as he turned to see Sasuke behind him, a smug look on the Uchiha's face. Sasuke pressed his sword further into Deidara as he simply said, "Even now, I defeat you very quickly. To think that a simple genjutsu could catch you off-"

Deidara's shocked and angered face cracked slightly as it all turned into the color of clay. Sasuke's face held a look of shock as the clay clone of Deidara, along with the bird, exploded in his face. Deidara chuckled as the smoke cleared, revealing a battered and bruised Sasuke on the ground.

"Your genjutsu just isn't going to cut it. I've been training my eyes to be resistant to genjutsu, yeah, so now your bag of tricks is empty," Deidara taunted the downed Sasuke as he formed an abstract creature with wings that flew at the Uchiha. Sasuke growled as dark purple chakra began to engulf him. He stood up as a flame-like pattern spread across his skin before solidifying and coalescing into a solid gray hue. His hair whitened and elongated as two hand-like wings burst from his back and shielded his body from the clay creature. After it impacted, the wings unfolded, clearing the smoke quickly.

Deidara scowled at Sasuke, "Damn you, mocking me with that snake's cursed arts!" Deidara shouted in anger as he formed more pellets that burst into a bright light. Sasuke kept his eyes open, his sharingan piercing through the distracting light to track Deidara's movement. He was ready to fire some chidori needles at the no-doubt unsuspecting bomber, but the annoying masked man suddenly knocked him to the ground.

"Yaaaaay! Birdie! Gimme a tour of the skies!" Tobi exclaimed as he tugged on Sasuke's wings. Sasuke roared in anger as he batted away the man sitting on his back with his wings. He then got up and rushed at Tobi with a chidori in his hand... only to pass right through him. Tobi giggled mischievously as he spun around in satisfaction. Sasuke was prepared for the masked man's strange ghost technique, and he rolled forward before straightening himself up. He quickly slapped the chidori on his sword and cut down the small clay birds flying at him before launching the electricity surrounding his blade at Deidara in the form of an energy beam.

_This is starting to get tricky... this masked man is quite the distraction, and Deidara is well-trained in earth jutsus to the point that my lightning jutsus won't defuse his bombs..._ thought Sasuke as he formed a close-fitting shield of lightning around his body before launching it outward. Deidara dodged the wave, and the wave just passed through Tobi.

"Hey, Scary Man, aren't you an Uchiha? Where's the flamey stuff you guys are s'posed to do? All I see are zaps and crackles," Tobi inquired. Sasuke responded by exhaling a large flame shaped like a dragon's head. It, once again, passed through Tobi.

"Perfect, hmm," Deidara said as he made a single-handed seal and said, "Katsu!"

All of the mines he had been setting while Tobi was distracting Sasuke exploded, showering the area with upheaved dirt and smoke. Deidara made a clay bird and took to the skies, waiting for the smoke to clear. He scowled and grit his teeth in fury as Sasuke stood there, unscathed! He was running low on clay; so he had to make the next explosions count... he reached into his pouch and began to mold something before placing the clay in his mouth. Tobi took note of this and ran over to Sasuke. He then started to make a bunch of noise while jumping and dancing like a buffoon. Sasuke was not fooled this time, and he flew straight through Tobi and headed towards Deidara.

He was then sent flying back to the ground as a hefty kick connected with his gut. Sasuke quickly rolled out of the way to avoid the kunai thrown at him. He got back up and smirked at the assailant.

"So... finally taking things serious, hm?" Sasuke asked as Tobi landed and made some hand seals. Sasuke used his wings to shroud himself as Tobi launched forth a volley of fireballs. Tobi then began to laugh an odd laugh (for him) that sounded normal for someone of his age, and not like a man trying to imitate a child's laugh.

"Wow, really? I'm an idiot, and I still outsmarted you!" Tobi declared as he vanished. Sasuke unfolded his wings in shock as he realized that Tobi had distracted him, and now Deidara had finished what he was constructing! Sasuke stared in awe at the massive Deidara clone that began to inflate. He grit his teeth as he tried to think of a way to get out of this...

The clone popped, but there was no explosion. Sasuke was confused until his sharingan picked up a massive cloud of tiny bombs spreading over the area. His eyes widened as he fired chidori needles at the bomb swarm, but the bombs were so numerous that the needles had little effect! They were closing in...

Sasuke screamed in agony as the tiny bombs detonated, slowly corroding his entire body. Deidara laughed in triumph as the Uchiha was engulfed in the many miniscule explosions.

"What a wonderful view, yeah," Deidara sighed with content as he viewed the last remnants of Sasuke fade away from his bird. Tobi made a small cheer as Sasuke faded away. There was a crackle of electricity from where Sasuke used to stand.

"A clone!?!" Deidara gasped as he turned around to see Tobi grabbing the blade of Sasuke's Kusanagi, blood seeping out from his gloves. Deidara made the bird fly towards the ground. His plan was to leap off of the bird and detonate it, only injuring Sasuke as Tobi used his ghost-like jutsu, but Sasuke pointed at the bird and fired a chidori needle, which plunged into the construct.

Another explosion rocked the battered area as the three combatants were slung to the ground from the blast. Tobi nonchalantly stood up and dusted off his robe. He frowned (not that anybody would see it) as he noticed that Deidara was quite injured from the blast, and his special scope had been broken. Then again, so was the Uchiha kid, who was reverted to his normal form. Tobi walked over and helped Deidara up as he reached into his robes and pulled out some of Tobi's Magic Medicine® and began to spread the gel over Deidara's wounds.

"Thanks, Tobi, yeah..." Deidara said lowly as he saw Sasuke stand up. Deidara growled as he weakly reached into his pouch and tossed a clay hornet at Sasuke. Even though the Uchiha was injured, he quickly cut it in half at a distance so that the explosion wouldn't reach him. Deidara's left eye began to twitch. Tobi took note of this and decided to take action.

"Let me help, Deidara," Tobi said seriously. Deidara was quite touched. Tobi had called him by his actual name! The masked man walked up to the wounded Sasuke, who simply scoffed.

"So, are you going to act like an idiot again? Or perhaps you'll just sling some jutsus at me and I'll dodge them? Move aside, you're in the way of my opponent," Sasuke ordered. Yet Tobi did not move. Deidara wasn't really moving, so he was probably waiting for the strange gel Tobi spread on him to kick in. Medicine wasn't known for being speedy... did that masked man _really_ think he could defend Deidara for that long?

"Did you hear me? I said move," Sasuke repeated.

"Don't you think that I'm a harmless obstacle," Tobi said in a serious tone, "I'm not."

"Move. _Now_," Sasuke barked, "Or I'll make you move."

Sasuke did not expect what happened next. His eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly as the single eyehole in Tobi's mask glowed red. Four pupils sat in the red that was the eye's iris... one in a normal position with a normal shape, and three comma-shaped pupils in a triangular formation around the normal pupil. Tobi had the sharingan!

Sasuke soon overcame the initial shock as he thought of Kakashi. _It's most likely just an ocular transplant. The only Uchihas left are Itachi and Reiko,_ he thought.

"Arrogance is your downfall. You are not the strongest out there, Sasuke," Tobi said as his sharingan changed shape. Its new shape was in the form of a sort of arrowhead with bottom tips that curved inward, a red pupil in the middle of the design. Two additional curved tips similar to the ones on the bottom were also emerging from the left and right of the arrowhead. Tobi... had a mangekyo, too?

Sasuke gasped as a familiar feeling washed over him. Tobi had used Tsukuyomi, but this felt... different. He felt incredibly numb; he couldn't move.

"Go, Deidara," Tobi said as he continued to stare at Sasuke, locking him in place with the powerful genjutsu. Deidara nodded and formed a small clay insect as he limped over to Sasuke. He would teach that punk a lesson by blowing off his face point-blank...

Deidara approached, closer and closer, but Sasuke was powerless against the binds of Tsukuyomi. His mind thrashed about fiercely, but his body would not move. He _refused_ to die here! Tobi was right... there were indeed stronger opponents out there... Itachi was one of them. And if a simple Tsukuyomi would be enough to kill him...

Deidara howled in pain as Sasuke sliced off the bomber's right arm. Tobi took a step back in shock as his sharingan deactivated. Sasuke had broken free of his Tsukuyomi? How was that possible?

"THAT'S IT! NO MORE!" Deidara shrieked as he threw off his tattered Akatsuki robe, revealing a large closed mouth on his chest. The mouth opened up as Deidara fed it the remainder of the clay in his pouch. A tear fell from Tobi's eye as black veins began to spread across Deidara's skin, the mouth being the epicenter.

"I'm sorry, Tobi, but..." Deidara said lowly as his skin became darker and darker as the veins became more and more numerous, "...I refuse to die in an inglorious manner to an _Uchiha_," he said with detest. Sasuke became visibly panicked as he noted that a massive amount of explosive energy was building up within Deidara.

"Dei...dara..." Tobi said quietly as more tears fell, "...I'll never forget you."

"Heh..." Deidara grinned as his body began to glow from under the black skin, "Art is..."

Sasuke rushed some hand seals. He had to time this perfectly...

"A BANG!" Deidara yelled as he exploded. The entire land shook as a massive explosion, miles in radius, burst forth, decimating the area and everything in the path of the massive fireball. Sasuke had summoned Manda in an improvised plan to abuse the art of summoning, but it was too late... Manda was effectively just a shield that was quickly engulfed by the blast.

"Damn you... Sasuke," Manda swore after the blast cleared, "and curse you, Orochimaru, for binding me to this boy..."

Manda then began to fade away as he passed from this world. Sasuke paid no mind as he lay on the ground, staring at the smoky sky.

_I've failed,_ he thought, _and now I'm going to die. After all of this, I will fail to avenge my clan. Itachi will live, and I will die... not even by his hands. Everything I've strived for is now nothing... I'm done for._

There was no pain. His body was too burned to feel pain. His vision began to blur as he felt his life slowly slipping away from him. His eyes shut, an image of him, Sakura, Kakashi, and Naruto in his mind...

* * *

She sank to her knees in despair as she saw the massive blast that could only mean one thing... that she was too late. She had spent the last six years of her life tracking down her beloved sensei, and just as she was the closest she's ever been to reuniting with Deidara... he was gone in the blink of an eye. Just a few miles away from being reunited... if only, if only...

Shizuka began to loudly sob as she clasped her hands over her eyes that were gushing tears. She shook her head in despair, her bobbed brown hair moving to and fro to her rhythm of pain. She sat there for an unknown amount of time, simply crying, until she heard footsteps.

"Who's there?" she asked, her voice cracked from crying, as she shot up and looked about. A peculiar man with an orange mask with a spiral pattern emerging from a single eyehole emerged from the woods. He... he was wearing the robes of Akatsuki!

"Was Dei... did you know him?" Tobi asked as he eyed the woman whose turquoise eyes were stained red with tears. She was wearing a simple black traveler's garb... just where did this woman come from?

"Who are you?" Shizuka asked threateningly.

"You knew Deidara, didn't you? I am... was... his partner, Tobi."

"What happened?" Shizuka pleaded as she sank to her knees in a begging position, "What made my beloved do such a thing?"

"Tell me about yourself first," Tobi said. Shizuka sighed and complied with the man's wishes.

"I had known Deidara ever since I graduated from the ninja academy in Iwagakure. He was the sensei of my team. I was quite skeptical on his skill... he was just one year older than us, but there was no denying his incredible skill," Shizuka began.

"Deidara was a jonin at that young of an age?" Tobi asked, bewildered.

"Yes. He had such great potential that the village considered him a candidate for the next Tsuchikage. He was also such a great visionary with an immense talent for art. He liked me the best out of the three people in our team, and he taught me of art. I, however, was more of a sculptor than... whatever Deidara was. He always seemed annoyed by my art, but he accepted me, nonetheless."

"And then," she continued, "one day he decided to leave the village. His art was getting him into great trouble with the village, so he chose the leave them forever to chase his passions. I didn't want him to go, so he offered us a chance to come with him. The other two boys in the team... they didn't approve. They tried to kill us. I wouldn't allow it! Soon, they were encased in wax, slowly suffocating... master and I would finally be able to be together!"

Tobi hung his head sadly as Shizuka teared up once more.

"What happened?" Tobi asked.

"We fell in love on our travels," Shizuka said through a quivering voice, "and one day, six years ago, he just up and left me."

"Why would he do such a thing?" Tobi inquired.

"I spent the last six years figuring that out. He had been forced into your organization, Akatsuki, and I suppose he wanted to protect me. But he failed in protecting me... all he did was wound me immensely. I finally figured out his location from a gray haired man with glasses, so I headed here as fast as I could, but... but..." Shizuka broke down into tears once more. Tobi couldn't help but tear up as well. It was hard to accept that such a gifted young man with such a vibrant character was now gone. But, this girl... he could just tell that she was just as gifted as Deidara.

"I think," Tobi said, "Deidara would want me to give this to you."

He walked over to her an produced a ring with a cyan emblem, "On Deidara's behalf, will you join Akatsuki?"

Shizuka wiped her eyes, "Of course! I'll gladly uphold my master's legacy!"

Tobi handed her the ring, and Shizuka glared at him as he began to walk away.

"Oh, yes, sorry about that," Tobi said as he realized that he forgot to hold his end of the bargain, "Deidara had orders to scout out this area, and he saw someone he particularly hated, so he took a detour..."

"Who?" Shizuka spat with icy venom, "_Who did this to him?_"

"A man by the name of Sasuke Uchiha. He might have escaped the blast, too..." Tobi said lowly.

"Sasuke... Uchiha..." Shizuka recited, "I... I will _kill_ that man, and all other Uchihas! I will _avenge_ my master!"

Tobi said nothing about his true nature... it wasn't the right time now.

"Well... shall we go, then?" Tobi asked. Shizuka nodded, wiping away the last of her tears, as the two set off...

* * *

Buzzards and other flying scavengers circled overhead the massive crater caused by the huge explosion earlier in the day. Somehow, the explosion spared the body of a young man, but not the life. Yet... something was not right about the corpse. A small mark on the body's neck quivered with excitement as it glowed a dark violet color. The man's eyes snapped open as he grinned vehemently. He struggled to stand, cursing at the immense pain from the burns all over him, and he used a strange set of hand seals that caused all of the burns to dissolve away.

Sasuke cracked his neck as he stared into the sky and began to laugh maniacally.

"Finally, Sasuke's body is now mine!" he declared triumphantly.


	4. Chapter 4: Undying Serpents

Dawn of a Red Moon, Chapter 4:

Sasuke flexed his fingers and soon began to stretch his body. After limbering up some, he tried to take a step, but he fell down. He caught himself and quickly stood up once more. He cursed quietly as he shakily continued to take steps. Soon he was confident in his ability to walk and smiled. The joy he felt was so overwhelming he had to walk over to a tree so he could lean on it.

So many years... he had spent so many years trying to obtain a body with the sharingan. He had tried to take Itachi's body, but the boy had proven far stronger than he originally thought. Sasuke seemed like a success as he trained the boy and buttered him up, but he was betrayed in the end and lost. For three long years he lay dormant in the boy's body, and now... this great opportunity had been handed to him! He finally had the perfect body! He was finally free!

Orochimaru laughed triumphantly some more as he began to move. Occasionally he would stumble, but that was expected. After all, he had not been able to move for three years. Familiar body functions seemed fuzzy and distant to him, but he managed well enough. He would have normally rested and formulated ideas on what to do next, but he had been doing that ever since his forced confinement. Now that he was free, there was no time to waste! He had been sealed away for too long, and he needed to act on his plans! He grimaced as he thought about certain possibilities. That homunculus was on the loose, and he had managed to block out Orochimaru's ability to keep track of him. Kabuto's fate was also unknown, as was the state of the Sound Village...

But he would check up on them after his current task. He needed a way to empower himself even more. He did not have access to his old body, and while Sasuke had the sharingan, he did not have the experiments that his original body held. Normally, he wouldn't care, but his elasticity and ability to hide Kusanagi inside of him was a key element of his taijutsu fighting style... so he needed something to make up for it. And what better way to do so than by additionally hampering the hated Akatsuki?

So he headed off to Amegakure. Thankfully he had been in the organization long enough to learn of the location of their headquarters, but his plan still relied on luck. But it would have to do for now...

* * *

"I don't think you're going to appreciate this," Konan said as she entered the room. Pain was currently conversing with Madara's soul-in-a-jar, and as he heard Konan speak he turned his head towards her with a slightly agitated look on his face.

"What is it _now?_ Is it that plant's antics once more?" Pain sighed.

"No... I've received news from many of our scattered agents that people are panicking about a series of explosions in the Fire Country..." Konan said sternly as she crossed her arms.

"Come _on!_ We sent that boy on a simple scouting mission, and he can't even do _that_ right!" Madara complained.

"Hush!" Pain ordered the Uchiha spirit, "I won't let you insult our members!" He then turned to Konan, "What exactly happened?"

"I'm not sure, but one of the explosions was quite massive. Deidara might have used a C-3 explosion..." Konan sighed in exasperation.

Zetsu's head then poked through the ground, "Am I interrupting anything?" he asked.

"Not really... what is it?" Pain asked.

"_Well, we kind of have some important news... uh... well, you see..._" Zetsu began. His black half then spoke, "Deidara is dead."

Pain was standing the entire time, but those three words made him sit down in shock. He grit his teeth in anger and slammed his fist on the table close by. He stared at Zetsu, his Rinnegan now a blazing red color.

"WHO? WHO DID THIS TO HIM?" Pain shouted.

"_Well, you see... Tobi has that information. He wishes to tell you,_" Zetsu said.

Pain's eyes slowly returned to their normal gray-blue color, "Very well. He may enter."

"Are you sure about that?" Madara asked, "None of the lower members have seen you."

"It's fine, Madara. No doubt Zetsu has already told them what I look like, and besides, this is not my body in the first place," Pain said, "Let him in."

Zetsu nodded as he sank into the ground. A few seconds passed, and a door opened up. Tobi and an unknown girl were with him, as was Zetsu behind them.

"Sorry, this girl insisted that she was to enter as well..." Zetsu said.

"So sorry, but Deidara was very important to me," the girl said as she bowed in respect.

"What happened, Tobi?" Konan asked.

"Well..." Tobi began, his voice low and quiet instead of the usual high pitched and child-like, "...we were scouting like you told us and Deidara saw Sasuke..."

Pain frowned as his eyes drifted to the floor, "So he attacked him because he killed Orochimaru. I take it that the Uchiha boy killed him?"

"...He was losing, but he refused to die to him. He used his C-O technique..." Tobi said quietly, "...I only survived because of my mangekyo..."

"So that's one less Uchiha to worry about," Madara said.

"I'm not sure, but he _may_ have survived the explosion. I wasn't completely sure, but I thought I could sense faint traces of his chakra," Tobi said.

"Konan, go search the blast area to see if Sasuke is indeed dead," Pain ordered. Konan nodded and dispersed into several paper butterflies that flew away, "Now, girl, what is your story? Obviously you wish to join us, because you wear Deidara's ring on your right index finger."

"Um, yes," the girl meekly stated. She was quite unsure of how to make of this situation. She had heard stories of Akatsuki, but she never expected the leaders and higher-ups to look like _this._ She took a deep breath and continued, "I'm Shizuka. Shizuka Arashi. I was Deidara's student back in Iwagakure. I was searching for him when... when..."

She began to tear up. Pain closed his eyes, "I understand. You may join us. Make Deidara proud."

Shizuka wiped the tears from her eyes as she nodded and smiled, "Thank you, thank you."

"Hold on... we don't even know her abilities," Madara said distrustfully.

"I was his best student," she spat as she glared at the strange spirit, unknowing of the spirit's true identity, "Stone and wax are my tools of art, and my tools of destruction."

"That's quite an interesting-sounding set of abilities," Zetsu said.

"We don't even know the extent of her abilities," Madara said coldly.

"It doesn't matter. For now, she can be Tobi's agent and partner. If her abilities are useful and powerful, then we will surely notice. You are dismissed," Pain said.

Tobi and Shizuka bowed in respect as they turned to exit the room.

"Hold on, Tobi," Madara said, "We're not done with you."

Tobi stopped, "Well, I guess this would be the time to learn about your new home," he chuckled lightly.

Shizuka smiled and nodded, "I suppose you're right. I'll see you later!" She waved at Tobi as she left the room and closed the door.

Zetsu piped up, "_I think I'll show her around the place. See ya._" He then sank into the ground.

Tobi turned around, "What exactly do you need from me?" he asked.

"You realize you are an Uchiha, correct?" Pain asked. He knew what Madara wished of Tobi, and now was a good time as any.

"Yes... I'm Tobi Uchiha," he said with a hint of confusion in his voice.

"You're not Tobi," Madara said sternly, "This 'Tobi' is a result of your amnesia."

"Are you sure it's okay to just tell him?" Pain asked with concern.

"Amnesia? W-What are you talking about?" Tobi asked in fear. Even though he said that he did not know, memories of encountering Reiko three years ago were entering his head. He had broken down during that fight when a surge of foreign memories flooded his mind.

"Yes, amnesia. I required an Uchiha body in case something happened to me. But not just any Uchiha body. It had to be one related to me by familial ties. Reiko abandoned me, Itachi was too risky to obtain, and Sasuke was just a child. My son, Fugaku, married a woman named Mikoto at an early age. Mikoto was an early bloomer, and the Uchihas needed more numbers if their attempt to overthrow the leaders of Konoha was to succeed. At only eleven years of age, Mikoto gave birth to you," Madara explained.

Tobi began to visibly shake as Madara continued to tell Tobi of his true history as Obito Uchiha. Once Madara told Tobi of the rocks that crushed him, Tobi began to yell in pain and fear. He fell to his knees as he began to shake in agony and mental pain. Pain watched with a slight frown on his face as Madara simply continued.

"So I headed for the site in the Grass Country where your body lay. Even though your body was likely mangled by the crushing force of the rocks, it was my only choice. I knew the rubble was so tightly packed together that what remained of your body would not have suffered significant decay. So I began my work. Soon after I had melded your body back together, I imbued you with the souls of the fallen Uchiha. It brought you back from the dead, if not for a limited time. You have a limited life, Obito. Far shorter than most people. Your life depends on the souls of the Uchiha inside of you. Every minute you corrode away some of that energy."

Tobi had spent up all of his shock as Madara concluded. He shakily stood up as he removed his mask and felt his face. He could feel scars that would match those of a face being stitched back together. The memories Madara told him matched those that had flooded his mind three years ago... but something wasn't adding up.

"My age... if your story is true, then I would be thirty-three. I am _not_ thirty-three!" Tobi yelled.

"That is because corpses do not age. You are technically thirty-three, but your physical and mental aging did not resume until I brought you back," Madara said, "and now you shall finally fulfill your use to me, Obito."

"What are you talking about?" Tobi asked indignantly as he gnashed his teeth in anger and took a defensive stance, "Get away from me, demon!"

"Do not worry, Tobi," Pain said calmly, "Madara wishes only to obtain a body, and it is not as bad as you are likely thinking. As part of our deal, he will join us only if he can obtain a vessel, and it is restricted by blood. He granted you life, no matter how temporary, to fulfill this purpose. You are indebted to him."

"But... I never wanted to be brought back for this! I only wanted to confess my love for Rin!" Obito shouted.

"Hush, Tobi... it's oka-" Pain began.

"Why do you call me Tobi if that is not who I am?" Obito yelled, tears forming in his eyes.

"Because Obito died that day, when the rocks crushed him. What was brought back had only locked up memories of Obito. Your friends and your nation think you are dead, and for all intents and purposes, Obito _is_ dead. For the past several years, you have lived as Tobi, and this knowledge should not change that," Pain explained.

Tobi took several deep breaths as he regained his composure, "I do suppose you're right, but... I'm not letting that _fiend_ possess me!" he said with determination as he pointed at Madara.

"Now, now, don't be rash. It is not as if I will have complete control over you. This jutsu will not work that way. He will both join together, but I will not be the dominant one. I will only require your body during certain times, and it's not as if I can seize it from you. You have to voluntarily let me borrow your body, and even then, it is only for a limited time. And it's not as if you have a choice anyway. You have to trust me, Obit... Tobi."

Tobi sighed as he put on his mask, "If it must be this way, very well..."

Pain picked up the jar that held Madara soul as he undid the lid, "I'm sorry, Tobi, but it's for the good of the organization."

"I understand completely... and I am indebted to Madara. If he had not brought me back, I would never have met Deidara... or Shizuka. I am ready," Tobi said.

Pain nodded as Madara's soul floated out of the jar and hovered over to Tobi. Pain began to make some hand seals...

* * *

Orochimaru had to stop and catch his breath as he beheld the mighty city that was Amegakure. He had been to the Rain Country in the past, but he had never been close enough to the hidden village to see it. And of all of the thoughts he had on what the village looked like, it certainly wasn't this. Long steel buildings reached up to the sky, some of them having fearsome faces carved from stone that depicted demons with the Rinnegan.

Orochimaru smiled. His luck hadn't run out like he thought- it wasn't raining. And if it wasn't raining, Pain had no way of instantly knowing he was in the village. He would have to move fast- no doubt Akatsuki's agents were rampant in the city.

And fast he was. Orochimaru quickly leapt from surface to surface in a pattern that would confuse potential followers. He headed towards the tallest building, for that was the one where Akatsuki resided in. He decided to try out Sasuke's jutsus just to get a taste of them. A chidori formed in his hands as he landed in front of the entrance to Akatsuki's base and slew the two men on guard. He grinned as the lightning faded and he entered the building. Two men whirled around in shock upon Orochimaru's sudden entrance, and they were silenced as two chidori needles pierced their throats. Orochimaru continued his running, slaying any in his way.

Soon he reached a door with several guards. He used his sharingan to lock the guards in a fierce genjutsu that sent spasms of immense pain into the men. He threw open the door and descended the many flights of stairs as the walls of the building gradually gave way to earth and stone as he descended.

As he reached the bottom, he paused to catch his breath. He looked up and began to laugh lightly as he beheld the King of Hell statue. He was fortunate enough to have taken the body of a man some time ago that had impressive knowledge on the bijuu, and thus Orochimaru knew many things: the identities and histories of the nine beasts, how to seal them inside someone, and how to remove them as well...

Orochimaru cackled as he began to make many hand seals. He knew exactly what to do, but the bijuu could act in many ways. Some of those actions could easily complicate things further.

Chakra began to flare from Orochimaru as he continued the hand seals. He knew the beast would easily exit the statue. After all, it's the very nature of the beasts to want to roam free. It was the immediate resealing that would be the problem.

The statue began to emit a groaning sound as its mouth opened further and one of the eyes began to close slowly, as if some invisible force was attempting to close it and the statue was struggling to keep its eye open. Dark green chakra began to pour out of the statue's mouth. Orochimaru eyed the chakra intently... if he were to pull this off successfully, he would need to start his sealing jutsu at the moment the animal aspect of the bijuu became noticeable...

There! Orochimaru noted an eye of a snake manifest itself. He quickly began to perform the hand seals needed to seal the bijuu inside of himself. The felt the beast's chakra begin to flow around him, and soon it began to enter. He kept his eyes closed in immense focus as he ignored the beast's curses. Soon, it was over. He felt a new power inside of him. He laughed triumphantly as the power began to course throughout him. He blocked out the eight-tailed serpent's words as he began to flee the base. Now his destination was Otogakure...

* * *

"Did it work?" Pain asked Madara, who now inhabited Tobi's body. Tobi flexed his fingers a bit as the mouth under the mask grinned.

"It did, and I cannot thank you enough, Nagato," Madara said, "There are so many things that I can now get to doing! I need to write down all of the thoughts I had while I was a soul, and I-"

"Patience, Madara. Do not be so hasty," Pain said, "Realize that you are in Tobi's body. Tobi is the dominant one, not you. Respect his body, his mind, and his choices. Do you understand me?"

"Very well... I need to rest, anyways. Synchronizing with this body will take a while," Madara said. There was a moment of silence as Tobi shuddered briefly. He then looked around, presumably confused.

"What just happened?" he asked. His voice sounded higher and more innocent than when Madara spoke through Tobi's body.

"The ritual was a success, and Madara is now inside of you. Now, Tobi... I know you're unsure about this. I had to do it as part of a deal Madara and I made. However, I will not tolerate any infringements of your comfort. I may respect Madara greatly, but I do also care for the members of Akatsuki. If Madara seizes control of you against your wishes, tell me when you regain control. I will not hesitate to rip him out of you, okay?" Pain said.

Tobi nodded, "Understood. Thanks for being so kind. Well, I gotta go find Shizuka now. Thank you again!" he exclaimed as he ran out of the room.

The familiar sound of rustling paper was then heard. Pain turned around to see a multitude of paper butterflies coalescing and changing shape, color, and properties into that of a woman.

"And?" Pain asked, eager to learn the results of Konan scrying the blast site.

"Sasuke Uchiha's body is not there," she stated coldly.

"Then his body must have been completely destroyed by the explosion," Pain concluded.

"That's... not the case," she said lowly.

Pain raised an eyebrow, "How so?"

"I could sense the chakra used during the fight. Deidara's chakra led to a source in the blast area: the spot where he detonated himself. Tobi and Sasuke did not have a source there."

"He's _alive?_ How? Even if he miraculously survived the blast, he would no doubt be unable to move from the severe injuries!"

"I'm not exactly sure..." Konan sighed.

Zetsu then emerged from the ground with a panicked look on his face.

"_Reeeaaaalll bad news, guys!_" he exclaimed, "_Someone shot in here and killed everyone on the way to the underground chamber!_"

Konan and Pain's eyes widened in shock.

"_What!?!_" Pain indignantly exclaimed.

"The eight-tailed serpent has been unsealed and resealed into the body of the intruder... and he's nowhere to be seen," Zetsu continued.

Pain grit his teeth tightly as everything suddenly clicked in his head. He cursed as he slammed his fist into a wall, causing a small crater to appear in it.

"The reason Sasuke is alive is because Orochimaru possessed him! That vile snake sealed the tailed beast within himself!" Pain yelled in anger.

Zetsu and Konan were taken aback by this.

"I'm heading to Otogakure," Pain said with anger.

"B-But God, you can't!" Konan exclaimed. Pain shot his head towards her with a vehement glare of rage.

"YOU DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" he screamed as he thrust his palm at her. Konan let out a cry as she was pushed into the wall by a sudden rush of gravity in her direction. Zetsu rushed over to help her as Pain leaped over the balcony and fell to the ground below, determined to regain the tailed beast that was stolen from him...

* * *

"Where are we?" Niomi whined. She slouched as she walked, her lip sticking out in a childish pout. With her exaggerated steps, the pigtails she had put her hair into waved to and fro.

Zhale sighed, "I've already told you... we're in the Land of Iron."

"Can't this jean-choo-ricky guy show up already? I'm _bored_," Niomi protested.

Zhale sighed even more. Niomi was a very useful assistant, but it was times like these which made him curse the choice of taking her in.

"You should be thankful of my abilities, Niomi. If I did not have the Sen-Long clan kekkei genkai, it would take much longer to extract information from people, not to mention tracking down a single person. It only took us two days to find the location of this man, and it would take normal people months," Zhale said.

"Yeah, that's cool and all, but can't he show up _now?_" Niomi complained.

Zhale groaned as he decided to "comply" with Niomi's demands. He used his psychic abilities to grab her by the collar of her Akatsuki robes. He then suddenly took off, flying towards the jinchuuriki of the artificial two-tailed beast. Normally he wouldn't perform such a task, as grabbing someone with his mind and propelling himself psychically towards someone wasted chakra, but he would make an exception to stop Niomi's annoying complaints.

If only Zhale could have seen the face of the jinchuuriki when a floating man and a screaming floating girl shot in front of his path, then maybe he would have felt better. Niomi fell to the ground as Zhale slowly descended to the earth despite the fact that he was just a few inches from the ground.

Instead of seeing the initial shock on the jinchuuriki's face, Zhale saw a tired-looking face that blinked a few times in disbelief. A cigarette was in the man's mouth, and the smoke that wafted from it matched the color of his hair, which was pulled back into a ponytail. The man was quite muscular and he was a few inches taller than Zhale. He wore some simple clothing, but the two sheathed blades at his side, the tears and red stains on his clothing, and the scars on his body betrayed the concept that this man was an ordinary traveler.

The man squinted his eyes, his heavy brow lowering, as he stroked his stubbled chin.

"Now, where have I seen that design before..." he muttered to himself, his voice low and gruff.

Niomi slowly stood up, her countenance consumed with sorrow.

"Why did you do that, Zhale..." she said in a low and defeated tone.

Zhale growled, "Because you were _complaining_ earlier! Oh, forget it, you're hopeless. And _you!_" Zhale pointed at the man, "You don't know what Akatsuki is?"

"Aka-whatnow?" the man asked, "Is that some sort of shinobi thing?"

"This is the Land of Iron..." Niomi sighed, "...there aren't any ninja here."

"I know that, you worthless twit!" Zhale cursed at Niomi. Obviously his patience had exhausted itself with Niomi's constant bickering. Niomi began to quietly cry and shrink away from Zhale. All of this was very confusing to the jinchuuriki.

"What exactly do you two want?" he yawned, "'Cuz I'm getting tired of people pestering me," he added with a threatening undertone.

"Don't threaten Master Zhale!" Niomi spat at the jinchuuriki. This made the man more confused. How could this girl still be loyal to the man that brought her to tears?

"It's fine, Niomi," Zhale said to the girl. He then looked at the jinchuuriki, "and we're here for that beast you have inside of you."

"Oh? You know about that?" the man asked, his face gaining a grin of anticipation. He unsheathed a blade and held it at the ready, "Now, were has someone heard of the secret Iron technique?"

"The what?" Zhale asked with suspicion and confusion.

"The secret Iron technique! The samurai of the Iron needed a powerful warrior, so they poured their chakra together to make a fearsome beast that was sealed within me!" the man boasted. "But I left them! They now hunt me down to use me as a weapon, but I, Ryota, am too strong for them! I am the only one of my kind, and I assume they hired you to kill me?" the man inquired defensively.

"Hired? Nooooo~! We're here on Akatsuki's behalf!" Niomi exclaimed in a sing-song voice. Her melancholy had suddenly vanished.

"You're a sheltered fool," Zhale said to Ryota, "you're not unique at all. There were at least nine others out there like you, only they had natural chakra beasts sealed into them instead of whatever was made by those samurai."

"Eh? That can't be! I'm the only demihuman!" Ryota indignantly exclaimed.

"Believe your ignorant claims, but they are false! Akatsuki has killed and sealed six of these beasts, and our leader has told us to take these artificial beasts, too. So enjoy this battle, for it will be your last," Zhale threatened.

"Now that's what I'm talking about! If you want my power, show me what you're made of!" Ryota shouted as he sprinted towards Zhale with great speed. He stabbed at Zhale, and the blade connected against Zhale's psychic barrier. Zhale preemptively smirked at the man's failure to injure him, but he soon became shocked as cracks began appearing on the thin blue dome around Zhale.

Ryota then yelled as he was thrown back by an explosion from one of Niomi's bombs. He quickly stood up and glared at the giggling girl that held another bomb in her hand. His eyes quickly shot towards the man with the strange powers. The invisible shield around him... the cracks were slowly vanishing.

"We are quite a formidable force. Niomi's bombs won't injure me, for my barrier will endure everything in her arsenal," taunted Zhale as he pushed his glasses up to his face. Ryota smirked slightly. So that means that whatever the girl had wouldn't be as strong as his brute strength.

"Yeah, I figured that much out already. I say, out of all the shinobi I've thought, none of them have used explosives or strange techniques like that," Ryota said.

"That is because Niomi is one of the few explosives experts in the world, and I am the last of the Sen-Long clan of the Cloud," Zhale boasted.

"That's nice," Ryota monotonously replied in an uncaring tone.

Zhale scowled at Ryota as a fireball formed in his hands. He launched the projectile at the indifferent man, who easily avoided it.

"No hand seals, either? Man, you sure have a bag of tricks, don't you?" Ryota smirked as he leaped into the air and swung his blade down onto Zhale's barrier, causing more cracks to form. He readied another blow that would puncture the shield before it repaired itself, but a few explosives from Niomi knocked him back.

"Man, you guys sure are annoying..." he mumbled as he rubbed his left side, which was caught in the blast. He didn't appear to be harmed much by the explosives.

_Interesting... normally, those blasts would at least burn the skin... what sort of tailed beast do you have..._ Zhale thought as he scryed the man's appearance for any marks denoting an animal. Around the jinchuuriki's neck was a marking that was a ring with several bear teeth hanging from it.

"That's certainly a complex tattoo you have there..." Zhale said with a grin on his face, "So, how many tails does this bear have?"

"Quite an astute observer, aren't you?" Ryota grinned back, "You'll get to see if you keep pushing me some."

"Okay! Pushy pushy coming up~!" Niomi exclaimed as she reached into her robes and produced several small metal orbs that rested between her fingers. She stuck her tongue out, which had a sort of flint-like stone over it. She struck the fuses of the bombs against her tongue, setting them aflame. She quickly tossed the metal bombs rapid-fire at Ryota.

Ryota charged towards the girl, batting away a few of the bombs, while others hit him and exploded on contact. The shrapnel simply bounced off of Ryota's muscular form, while a few bombs that exploded near Niomi had their shrapnel pierce her.

Ryota grinned sadistically as he raised his sword and brought it down. Niomi moaned in ecstasy as the blade dug itself into her right shoulder, easily cutting through the petite girl until the blade lost momentum halfway into her shoulder. Ryota withdrew the blade and eyed the girl as he took caution. She began to laugh as her right arm hanged limply at her side, blood pouring from the deep cut on her shoulder.

Ryota suddenly gasped as Zhale used his psychic forces to knock Ryota towards Niomi. Ryota grit his teeth, mentally cursing himself for foolishly ignoring his other opponent. The girl smiled seductively as Ryota fell to her feet. She embraced the man quickly before leaping back.

"Ugh, gross..." Ryota grumbled as he stared down at the blood that leaked onto him. He turned towards Zhale. That girl would soon bleed to death from the severity of the wound... she would just be a nuisance until that happened.

He heard the girl giggle before clapping her hands. Ryota cried out in pain as the girl's blood on his chest violently exploded. He began to growl. He was fed up with the tricks of the duo he was facing. Gray chakra began pouring out of his body as he straightened himself.

"Good, good! Show me your bijuu's power!" Zhale exclaimed. Ryota darted towards the spectacled man with his sword at the ready, but Niomi leaped in the way with a manic look on her face. Her hands were dabbled with her blood, and she quickly slapped Ryota several times before bouncing off of his back and landing behind the bear jinchuuriki. She began to applaud and laugh, causing the blood on Ryota to detonate.

Ryota ignored the pain to the best of his ability as he unsheathed his second blade and rushed at Niomi with great speed. The joy on her face was replaced with shock as the two blades were shoved into her belly. The sheer overload of the pain was enough to render the girl unconscious. Ryota spat on her as he removed his swords.

Zhale growled as he detestfully eyed the jinchuuriki. He had severely wounded Niomi. If he didn't finish this up quick, she might die...

Ryota turned towards Zhale with a grin as he rushed towards him, his swords ready to strike. Two fierce blows against Zhale's barrier were enough to shatter it. Zhale took a few steps back as he thrust his palm outward. The familiar force slammed into Ryota, pushing him back. Zhale held out his hands, one of them becoming encased in fire, the other electricity. He thrust both hands out, launching the two elemental beams at the jinchuuriki.

Ryota charged straight through the beams, suffering minor injuries. The gray chakra around him was now in a bear shape with a single tail, and it appeared to be more solid than normal. Zhale grimaced as the man charged at him. He used his telekinetic powers to remove Ryota's swords from his hands before bringing them down on the jinchuuriki's back. Ryota grunted as the blades became stuck in his back.

"I won't need those to kill you," he said as he punched at Zhale. Zhale's barrier had reformed, but the force of Ryota's fist was enough to shatter the barrier and send Zhale flying back somewhat.

"You see, you rely too much on your special powers. You have no strength behind your attacks... that's why you hide behind that little shield of yours," Ryota said with a grin as he rushed at Zhale to punch him once more. His fist connected with Zhale's gut, causing him to cry out in pain as he was launched back by the bijuu-empowered shockwave from the blow.

Zhale struggled to breathe through his current winded state. He looked up at the smirking jinchuuriki and pointed at him, launching a torrential blast of fire at Ryota. Zhale shortly recovered and began to smirk upon hearing cries of pain from the jinchuuriki, but a fierce roar knocked him back into a tree.

The smoke rushed away from the chakra-enforced roar, revealing Ryota on all fours. The bear shape was prominent now, and the chakra was condensed about Ryota's body, appearing more like a shroud of steel than gray chakra. Two tails flicked about as the bear growled at Zhale. Zhale grinned as he shakily stood up.

"Two tails, hm? That's all?" Zhale asked, "Well, what a disappointment..."

The bear roared in disapproval, sending another shockwave at Zhale. He smirked as he raised a hand and sent forth of wall of telekinetic energy, which easily overpowered the shockwave. It slammed into the jinchuuriki, knocking him back, but the bear straightened himself shortly. Zhale used his psychic forces to lift a slab of the earth and throw it at the bear, but it shattered upon contact with the immensely hard shroud of chakra about Ryota's skin.

Ryota rushed towards Zhale, ready to strike with the claws that had formed about his hands. Zhale glared as he realized that those chakra shockwaves probably injured Niomi even further. He let the bear charge at him as he slammed his palm onto the iron-hard chakra about Ryota. He let loose a massive discharge of electricity and sadistically grinned as Ryota cried out in pain. The gray chakra began to fade, and Zhale persisted until Ryota fell to the ground, unconscious and with a blazing red imprint of Zhale's hand on his back.

He briefly basked in his victory before rushing over to Niomi. The girl lay against a rock, haphazardly thrown against it by the shockwaves from the jinchuuriki's roars. She was deathly pale and was bleeding tremendously. Zhale bit his lip in anxiousness as he began to carefully mend her bones and wounds by speeding up the regeneration of the girl's cells. Soon, Niomi was safe, but she would need lots of rest and further medical attention to fully recover. Zhale lifted Ryota and Niomi with his mind before he lifted himself. He then began to fly towards the Akatsuki base, fearful that the jinchuuriki would awake...


End file.
